Monthly Archive: February 2016

Our Everloving Quest to Control Our Lives

Our Everloving Quest to Control Our Lives

By Leo Babauta Almost our entire lives are spent in a quest to gain control, security and comfort in our lives. Unfortunately, we never really get it, so we keep trying, relentlessly. This is the main activity of our lives. What would happen if we stopped? We could be less restricted by fear, less anxious, […]

Opt Out: A Simplicity Manifesto

Opt Out: A Simplicity Manifesto

By Leo Babauta Our lives become filled, even controlled, by the things we think we need to do. We think we can’t live without these things, but actually, we can. We can opt out. Think about how busy our lives have become. Think about how distracted we’ve become. Think about how many things needlessly pull […]

Why We Struggle with Change

Why We Struggle with Change

By Leo Babauta We think we need to improve ourselves and our current situation, because we’re dissatisfied (at least a little bit) with how things are. We have a drive to improve, improve. So we strive for change — exercise more, eat better, read more, be more mindful, do more meaningful work, be more disciplined. […]

How to Become the World’s Greatest Lover

How to Become the World’s Greatest Lover

By Leo Babauta You reject the limitations of being a romantic Cassanova, restricted to loving only those who fall for your seductions. You want to love every one. Every single living being. Everything in this miraculous universe. You learn to love it all, in its majestic entirety. You don’t discriminate between the aesthetically beautiful or […]

10,000 Hours of Personal Growth

10,000 Hours of Personal Growth

You may have heard the idea idea that it takes 10,000 hours of dedicated practice to achieve mastery in a certain field. This is equivalent to doing your activity full time for 5 years (10,000 hours = 40 hours/week x 50 weeks/year x 5 years). I was recently asked what it looks for me to […]

10,000 Hours of Personal Growth

10,000 Hours of Personal Growth

You may have heard the idea idea that it takes 10,000 hours of dedicated practice to achieve mastery in a certain field. This is equivalent to doing your activity full time for 5 years (10,000 hours = 40 hours/week x 50 weeks/year x 5 years). I was recently asked what it looks for me to […]

10,000 Hours of Personal Growth

10,000 Hours of Personal Growth

You may have heard the idea idea that it takes 10,000 hours of dedicated practice to achieve mastery in a certain field. This is equivalent to doing your activity full time for 5 years (10,000 hours = 40 hours/week x 50 weeks/year x 5 years). I was recently asked what it looks for me to…

Our Relationship with the Present Moment

Our Relationship with the Present Moment

By Leo Babauta Have you ever thought of the present moment as a loved one? I’ve been working with this thought lately, and I find it helpful when I’m feeling rushed, distracted, worried, upset, frustrated, anxious, sad, irritated. Let’s think for a moment about our relationship with this loved one we might call the Present […]

Let Everything Breathe

Let Everything Breathe

By Leo Babauta As you sit here reading these words, you are breathing … stop for a moment and notice this breath. You could control the breath, and make it behave as you like … or you can simply let yourself breathe. There is peace in just letting your body breathe, without having to do […]

The Monthly Review

The Monthly Review

By Leo Babauta I talked about the Year-End Reflection as a way to look back on your year, realize your accomplishments, solidify your learning … but that can take a lot of work, because we forget a lot of what we’ve done. Enter the Monthly Review. I just started doing this, actually, after realizing that […]